Books, in all their variety, offer the human intellect the means whereby civilisation may be carried triumphantly forward. -Churchill

Fact of the day: 9th January

On this day in 1916 the battle of Gallipoli concluded with a victory for the Ottoman Empire.

The Battle of Gallipoli was WW1 campaign that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916. The peninsula was part of a northern bank of the Dardanelles that would have provided a sea route to Russia. The British and French launched a naval attack to try and secure it, with the eventual aim of capturing Constantinople. The naval attack was repelled and, after eight months, with many casualties on both sides, the land campaign also failed and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt.

The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war and is considered a major Allied failure. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nation’s history: a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. The campaign formed the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of the Republic of Turkey, eight years later.